


Burlesque

by Secretive_Imagination



Category: 1D - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Burlesque, Dancing, F/M, Heartache, Heartbreak, Love Triangles, Mental Health Issues, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-10 10:04:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secretive_Imagination/pseuds/Secretive_Imagination
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the age of seventeen, Evelyn ran away from home to get away from the unbearable struggles that her family life brought to her. She was was soon drawn in by the owner of a burlesque club, Veronica, who promised her the world. Just like that, Evelyn was thrown into a world of bitchy girls, provocative outfits and seedy men leering at her every night, but one year on, she can no longer take it.</p>
<p>Evelyn makes the decision to run away again, but quickly finds herself met with a mysterious guy who is eager to help her. Little does she know, that accepting his help will throw her into even more dramatic and emotionally-testing situations than she'd ever, ever expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape.

Every beam of light hit her like a blast of heat.

Her breathing was so restricted by the tight corset covering her torso that every movement she made was stiff and looked absolutely nothing like it was supposed to. The stage, although empty apart from her and the chair in the middle, felt crowded and suffocating as she tried to follow the familiar music and repeat the graceful and elegant steps she'd practised so many times that week.

From the wings of the stage, she heard the sound of whispers and laughter, and she sharply glanced round to glare at the two other regular dancers that had been watching her. The music came to an abrupt stop.

" _Evelyn!_ " Veronica, the burlesque club's dance instructor, practically screamed from the back of the auditorium.

The suddenness of her voice had Evelyn stumbling in her stiletto heels, and she desperately scrambled to straighten herself out, returning to the spotlight as Veronica angrily stormed down the red-carpeted aisle and stopped at the steps of the stage, pointing a perfectly-manicured fingernail at her.

"How many times do I have to tell you to pay attention?" Veronica angrily snapped. "Run it again."

Evelyn couldn't help but clench her jaw. Her dance practise had to be coming up to at least three hours now, and every time she ran the number, Veronica would find a problem with it. She was exhausted and fed up, and ready to stand up for herself.

"I'm not doing it again." She casually yet confidently stated, reaching down to remove her heels. "Cut me from the number. I don't care."

Veronica was quite obviously taken back by her attitude. No girls at the Red Burlesque Lounge ever had the guts to stand up to the dance instructor, and the fact that Evelyn, the youngest one at only eighteen years old, had done so, caused a gasp to come from everyone else in the room. Evelyn didn't care, though. She'd never wanted to be a dancer in the first place - running away from home had landed her in this predicament. When you were vulnerable and had absolutely no one, the simplest offers would sound appealing, and the year before that, Veronica had promised her a place to stay and the chance to earn some money. Evelyn had been roped into this, and she couldn't wait to get out.

Before Veronica could reply, Evelyn picked up her shoes and swiftly left the stage, pushing past the two bitchy girls in the wings who continued to whisper and giggle. She didn't want it to bother her, because she didn't want to be that person, but her adrenaline from standing up for herself was quickly disappearing, and with a mix of exhaustion and defeat, she felt a cry creeping up her throat. She quickly barged through the stage doors and ran up the flights of stairs that led to the top part of the club - where all the dancers lived together.

She hated the place, and the other dancers, and Veronica, and all the seedy men who would sit and watch her move around in skimpy outfits whilst their wives didn't have a single clue where they really were. All in all, her entire life had been pretty terrible, but she was starting to think she'd pick the struggle she'd lived through before over how she was living now.

Once upstairs, Evelyn ran down the hallway to the room at the very end; the bedroom she shared with one of the other dancers, Pixie. Pixie wasn't all that bad, and she'd been known to be nice to Evelyn on occasion, but she never would be in front of the other girls. Most of the girls were twenty-two upwards, and they would never let Evelyn forget that she was just eighteen and no way near as experienced as them.

The bedroom door swung open as Evelyn kicked at it, and she ran in, slamming it shut behind her and pressing her back to it. She squeezed her eyes shut, her tears immediately spilling over and cascading down her cheeks as a loud sob left her lips. She couldn't describe how dirty this entire place made her feel, and she had no idea how she'd managed to last a whole year. Pretty much every night, she dressed in the provocative outfits that barely covered her and swayed her hips to inviting music. The other girls seemed to like the attention, but she didn't. She absolutely hated being stared like that.

Her tears caused her extravagant false eyelashes to become unstuck, and she ripped them away from her face, throwing them down onto the vanity table in the corner and staring into the mirror. Her saddened, unrecognisable expression stared back at her and made her wonder what had happened to the strong, ambitious girl that she'd been before she got tied into the dancing. She'd not liked her life very much, but it was far, far better than this. Now she was stuck with nobody, and she couldn't go a day without hurting herself.

Behind her, the door suddenly opened, and Pixie casually wandered in. Her pastel pink, shoulder length hair, brushed over her soft cheeks as she glanced over at Evelyn, raising a questioning eyebrow. 

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, and Evelyn immediately knew that Pixie was in no mood to be nice.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Evelyn managed to squeak out a response, though the way her voice cracked was a clear giveaway that she was lying.

Luckily for her, Pixie didn't press the matter, and simply threw herself onto her bed and closed her eyes.

Evelyn glanced from Pixie to the clock on her nightstand, reading the time. It was only two hours until the first number in the show, and she knew that Veronica would go mad if she saw the state she was in. Her makeup was mostly washed off, though some remained smudged beneath her eyes, and on the back of her hands from where she'd wiped at them.

She had to get out. She didn't know where or how, really. Although she'd run away before, it hadn't been long since Veronica had snatched her up, and she hadn't been able to get away since. She wasn't sure how to leave, or how to fend for herself.

Again, she glanced at Pixie. Although her eyes were closed, there was no way her breathing was leveled enough for her to be sleeping. Evelyn knew that she didn't have time to shower and clean up - or even change, for that matter - she had to get out of there. Now.

Two hours sounded like plenty of time to leave, but it wouldn't be long before the place was swarming with dancers trying to get ready, and the door would be swinging open and shut over and over again as numerous girls came in asking to borrow things. Despite desperately wanting to change out of the disgusting outfit, Evelyn knew she didn't have the time to be fussy. She pulled the red stiletto heels that she'd always hated back on, and reached into her drawer for her wallet, clutching it tightly in her palm as she made her way over to the bedroom door, watching Pixie carefully. As she opened the door, Pixie didn't even seem to notice, and only moved to roll onto her side and turn her back to Evelyn.

Thankfully, the hallway was completely empty, making it easy for Evelyn to run as fast as she could in her heels to the staircase. She had to be careful when she got to the stairs, as they were made of wood, and the heels always made a loud clunking sound against them. 

Finally at the bottom step, Evelyn whipped her head round in all directions, surprised to see that the place seemed to be deserted. The bottom of the stairs led three ways; to the stage, to the main part of the club, and to the exit where all the dancers would go for a cigarette and a breath of fresh air after a number.

Evelyn immediately headed for the exit, pressing down on the handle and pushing the door open. With it being winter, the frosty air immediately hit her and caused a shiver to rush down her spine, though she ignored the cold and stepped outside, aware of how limited her time was.

The exit brought her to the staff car park, but still without a car despite being able to drive, there was only one way out on foot - the alleyway. Evelyn had always avoided the alleyway, having heard the other dancers discuss it plenty of times. Some of the girls loved the danger of it, whilst others swore to never set foot near it and the danger it held. Plenty of things happened there every night - fights, drug deals - all sorts. Evelyn often heard and watched from her bedroom window; she'd been one of the ones to swear to never go near it.

She stopped at the alley entrance, contemplating whether to remove her shoes in case she had to run. She glanced behind her at the sound of voices to see two of the girls at the club exit, lighting up cigarettes. She realised that she had no time, and would just have to risk it, as she didn't want the girls to see her. 

She inhaled a deep breath and braced herself, stepping into the alley.


	2. Stranger.

The alleyway seemed never-ending, and was so narrow that it almost made Evelyn feel claustrophobic. She was sure her nerves were getting the better of her, as every single noise had the staring around in fear, despite not being able to see a single thing through the darkness. 

A light soon became the tiniest bit visible ahead, causing Evelyn to quicken her pace, wanting to be nearer to it. The end of the alleyway was well lit-up from the street light that shone nearby, and it put Evelyn at ease for just a moment, before she noticed the big, muscular-looking figure that stood by the alley exit. She stopped in her tracks, the clicking of her heels echoing around her and causing the figure to turn around.

She didn't want to go forward, but it was far too late to turn back. It seemed that the light was shining over Evelyn enough for her to be seen, as the man studied her appearance, his gaze starting at her shoes and slowly dragging upwards over her skimpy outfit and her partly-exposed body. He let out a deep chuckle and took a long drag on whatever he was smoking - which looked and smelt very much like a joint - before he blew out the smoke and opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, hey there." He said, and for some reason he chuckled again. It made Evelyn uncomfortable, and she tightly crossed her arms over her chest, desperately wanting to cover herself.

"Hi." She bluntly replied. She wanted to sound confident, but she sounded anything but.

She decided her best bet would be to act confident instead, and she resumed her walking, wandering casually past the guy and stepping one foot out of the alley. Quickly, a hand landed on her shoulder

"Where are you going?" The guy asked, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"It's none of your business." Evelyn sharply snapped. "Now get your hand off me or I'll scream."

"Easy there. I'm only trying to-"

"I'll scream." She warned again, interrupting him.

The guy seemed slightly alarmed by her threat, but did nothing to remove his hand from Evelyn's shoulder. She opened her mouth to scream, though quickly realised she wouldn't be doing herself any favours by doing so. If one of the girls came running and found her in the alley, she'd be dragged back to the club and in a whole lot of trouble.

The guy seemed to notice that Evelyn was having doubts about her own threat, as a smirk appeared on his face and he tightened his grip on her shoulder. Unsure of what to do, Evelyn resorted to the one thing she promised herself she'd never do to a guy; she raised her leg and kneed him right in the crotch. Immediately, he groaned and let go of her, stumbling back. And with that, Evelyn ran.

Despite her heels obviously making it hard to run, it also didn't help that Evelyn was so cold she could now hardly feel her body. She'd successfully gotten away from the club and the alley, and was now running down the backs of the long strip of other venues that lined the street - it was literally called "Entertainment Street", as there were so many different clubs, bars and venues that hosted so many different things.

Evelyn's ankles were now twisting with practically every step she took. She winced, beginning to feel the pain, and began to question herself as to how much longer she'd be able to run for. She just wanted to get out of the area and find somewhere to spend the night.  
The few people that dotted the street and wandered past, stared as the small, scantily-clad girl sprinted past them, only paying attention to where she was going. It wasn't completely shocking to them, as they soon guessed that she'd come from the burlesque club and then carried on with their night as normal, though Evelyn, through her running, felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

She propelled her legs forward, an ache rippling through both of them that almost made her want to scream out in pain, though she kept telling herself that it wasn't much further to run. She was almost on the verge of giving up when she abruptly turned a corner and tripped over, feeling her body collide with somebody else's. Whoever it was had warm hands that steadied her. Though her cheeks were still pink, she raised her head to look up, and studied the person as well as she could under a dim streetlight.

He had a head of messy yet stylish brown hair, and piercing green eyes that stared down into Evelyn's. Suddenly, she forgot where she was going.

"Uh..." The green-eyed, messy-haired guy was the first to speak, his deep voice coming out as just a slight murmur. It seemed as though he'd intended to say more, though his attention had been stolen by Evelyn's outfit, and he stared at her questioningly. He was frowning, but at least he wasn't staring at her like she was a piece of meat.

"S-sorry." Evelyn stammered. It was only then that she realised she'd been crying, as her voice cracked for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, and her cheeks were wet with tears. "I'll uh...pay more attention to where I'm running..."

It seemed that the guy was simply so bewildered that he couldn't speak, as he maintained the same expression whilst staring down at the petite girl with black hair and piercing green eyes much like his. Realising he wasn't going to say any more, Evelyn slowly brushed past him, wanting to cry even harder at the embarrassment she felt. He hadn't even smiled, and yet it was the kindest way somebody had looked at her in a long time.

"I...are you okay?" The guy spoke again, immediately causing Evelyn to stop and turn around. He was still eyeing her clothing, but certainly not in a lustful way. More in a " _what the hell are you doing, wearing that_?" kind of way.

"I...I'm not sure." Evelyn frowned.

It appeared that the attractive guy stood in front of her did not have a single clue what to make of the entire situation. He didn't look much older than her, and he looked like a regular young guy, which was why Evelyn was so surprised that he seemed so polite and gentlemanly. Sure, he'd studied her outfit a couple of times, but he'd not once focused his gaze on any part of her body except her face.

Despite the guy's obvious friendliness, Evelyn began to feel self-conscious under his gaze and quickly crossed her arms over her chest like she had done with the man in the alleyway.

"Sorry." She apologised again, this time managing not to stutter.

Confused by her second apology, he frowned again. "Why?"

"For walking into you." Evelyn then mirrored his frown. "Uh...bye."

She turned to walk off, though only managed to take two steps forward before she was stopped, like earlier, by a voice calling after her.

"Wait!" The guy said, causing her to come to such an abrupt stop that her ankle twisted, yet again.

She stared at him questioningly, studying the frown that was still so prominent on his face. It seemed that the guy was unsure as to what he was actually going to say.

"Where are you heading?" He eventually blurted out, not wanting to leave it too long before he spoke, in fear that the girl in front of him would walk away again.

Again, Evelyn mirrored his frown. "I...I don't know."

The guy stared down at her, studying the way that her black hair, that had been neatly styled not long before, was loosening and deflating, and her green eyes held nothing but sadness.

"I'm Harry." He murmured, and Evelyn just stared down at the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter! Right now, I'm just copying and pasting what I wrote on Instagram onto here, so I'm sorry if the chapters right now seem a little oddly thrown together. They won't all be like that!


	3. The Hotel Suite.

She wasn't sure why, but Evelyn was completely hesitant to grant this Harry guy with her own name. She kept her gaze firmly pinned on the floor, deliberately avoiding eye contact in hopes that it would diminish any risk of awkwardness.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked, immediately cringing at how rude it had sounded. She just didn't know what this attractive stranger wanted with her.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Harry replied, his frown deepening. "You look...well...you look..."

"A mess?" Evelyn finished the sentence for him, sharply glancing up to finally meet his stare. "A complete idiot? A slut?"

"No." Harry immediately shook his head. "You look _sad_."

Evelyn wanted to scoff, becoming a little defensive that the stranger was reading her so easily. "Yeah, well, I'll live."  
Although she felt a physical attraction towards him, she didn't appreciate how forward he was when she didn't even know him. Harry, on the other hand, was confused. He had no idea why he was so drawn to this girl, but something nagged at him in his mind, screaming " _help her_ ".

"Where are you heading?" He asked again, almost as if he'd forgotten the answer she'd given before.

Slowly, she shrugged. "I really don't know."

Although he knew it was forward, Harry knew he had to help her. "Come on." He said. "Follow me.”

Evelyn cluelessly blinked, wondering if she’d heard him right. The way he turned and began to walk clarified that she certainly had, and when Harry realised he wasn’t being followed, he stopped in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder at her.

Meeting his gaze, Evelyn began to slowly drag her feet to catch up with him. By now, she was completely confused. Going somewhere with a stranger was usually out of the question for her – she wasn’t an _idiot_ , but something about this Harry guy made her feel safe, and she couldn’t help but follow.

As she stopped by his side, he gestured for the two of them to carry on walking, and they silently did. Evelyn stared forward thoughtfully as she walked, but Harry stared at her. He felt his frown return to his face as he gave her yet another once-over, studying everything from her revealing outfit to her face. Her cheeks were tear-stained and a smudge of black makeup lay underneath each eye. 

It was only as his gaze fell to her arms that he realised she was shivering within the cold, and he wanted to hit himself for not realising before. Although he wasn’t dressed particularly well for the winter weather, his dapper suit certainly beat the corset, the shortest skirt he’d ever seen, and the thigh-high stockings that the girl beside him was wearing.

He cleared his throat, shrugging his suit jacket off and draping it over her shoulders. Evelyn glanced up at him in surprise, but didn’t object to the gesture, and instead pulled the jacket tightly around herself. It was pretty big on her petite self, but she liked it like that, and she also liked the scent of men's body spray that emanated from it.

“So, what’s your name?” Harry was the first to start a new conversation. He was the one now shivering through his thin, white smart shirt, but he tried to mask it by crossing his arms over his chest. 

Due to how kind he was being, Evelyn decided to just give in and tell him. “It’s Evelyn.” She said, and then paused. “…Where are we going?”

Harry realised at the moment that he’d not really come up with a plan as to where he was taking the girl, but he immediately presumed that his best bet was to take her to the hotel he’d been staying in. There, he could provide her with something warmer to wear and a chance to clean herself up. And if she wanted to, she could eat, too.

“To my hotel room.” He hesitantly answered, hoping this wouldn’t spark up a fearful reaction. He didn’t want to worry her and make her think he was trying to sleep with her. “It’s not far. I need to get you out of the cold…you’ll catch your death.”

This made Evelyn frown. She believed that Harry was being completely truthful in what he was saying, but she didn’t understand why he was being so nice and helpful. She rarely left the club, as she never had anywhere to go, but everyone that had ever seen her in an outfit such as that one, had immediately disrespected her and thought little of her. She didn’t blame them, but she didn’t understand why Harry wasn’t the same. 

The rest of the walk to the hotel was silent, but Evelyn couldn’t help but inhale an audible gasp when they approached the building and realised _what_ hotel it was. She’d never been there, as it was far too expensive, but it was a famous hotel in the area – well known for the amount of celebrities that had stayed there.

Harry didn’t to seem to notice Evelyn’s surprise, as he led her straight past the hotel’s front entrance and carried on round a corner until they were at the back. Evelyn frowned, wondering why he’d taken her that way, but she didn’t question it as he knocked on a door and waited for a response.

The door was opened by a man in a suit, who smiled at Harry and then diverted his gaze to Evelyn. He surveyed her appearance, raising his eyebrows, but made no comment as he looked back at Harry.

“Mr. Styles.” He greeted him with a nod, and Harry returned the nod.

“Hi.” He replied. 

The man stepped aside, and Harry gently took hold of Evelyn’s arm, pulling her past him and into the building. She was met by an immediate warmth, and her eyes scanned the place in bewilderment. Although they appeared to be at the very back of the hotel where nobody else was, there was no denying that it was completely glamorous, with big chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and expensive-looking paintings placed on the wall. Harry wandered past it all as if he’d seen it a million times before, still pulling Evelyn with him. He pulled her through another door and then stopped, causing Evelyn to rip her gaze away from her surroundings and take a look at what had made him stop. In front of him were two doors, which led to what was titled the “ _staff elevator_ ”.

Evelyn frowned, glancing at Harry. Sure, he was well-dressed and looked like he could afford to be in such a hotel, but she’d not once expected him to be _staff_. She stayed silent as he pressed a button on the wall, causing a _ding_ to echo through the small room. The doors opened, and Harry pulled her into the elevator. Even _that_ was fancy.

As soon as the doors had closed behind them and Harry had pressed the button to take them to the correct floor, he let go of Evelyn’s arm and crossed his own arms over his chest, leaning against one of the three walls. Evelyn mirrored his position, leaning against the wall opposite to him, and she felt his stare on her. Under the bright lights inside the elevator, where Harry could now get a proper look at her, which he hadn’t been able to do under the streetlights, she felt more self-conscious than ever. She didn’t know what was worse; the outfit she was wearing, or the state she’d gotten herself in.

Another _ding_ sounded, and the doors opened to a long corridor that looked much like the upstairs hallways back at the Red Burlesque Lounge. There were numerous doors either side of them, and Harry led her down so far, before stopping in front of one of the doors and pulling a card out of his pocket. He swiped it through the lock, then pushing down on the door handle and opening it. Evelyn waited for him to go in, but he gestured for her to do so first.

Slowly, she walked in. She heard him follow and shut the door behind her, though her attention was very much stolen by the room in which she was stood—or the _suite_ , rather. It was so big that it actually looked an apartment, as in front of her, she could see a living room area to her left and a kitchen area to her right. Directly in front of her was a huge dining table with eight chairs tucked in around it, and there were numerous doors around the place, leading off to God knows how many rooms. There was no denying that this was expensive.

And she was starting to wonder just _who_ this Harry guy was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last one I've had to copy off of my phone, so the chapters should flow smoother from now on :)

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this on Instagram and decided to post it and continue it on here. Hope everyone enjoys!


End file.
